Great Workout -- Feel Fantastic

Premier chest workout

I thought that I would share this with you all today, because I just did it, and I feel fantastic! This really may be the best chest workout I have ever done.

I feel totally pumped, and I have that sweet, sweet ache in my muscles that tells me that I have done something that will create some growth.

Tremendous upper body pump

So what was so great about this workout? I guess the best way to explain it may be to list what it accomplished: I got a tremendous pump, and not just in my pecs.

My entire upper body feels fantastic. Not just the chest, but the back, shoulders and triceps were all worked to exhaustion.

On top of that, I didn’t need a machine one –- it was all barbells, dumbbells and weight benches, which means that you will be able to duplicate this at home.

The warmup

Without further ado, here is the workout that did all of this. Fist I did 10 minutes on the Stairmaster. I think the Stairmaster is the only piece of cardio equipment in the gym worthy of the name.

Now, bear in mind that I talking about the old fashioned, escalator type Stairmaster –- not some namby pamby elliptical thingie.

Set yours on Fatburner Plus, level 5 for 10 minutes, and I guarantee that you will be nice and warmed up. Typically, by the end of this, I am damp with sweat –- exactly where you want to be before a hard workout.

Flat and incline press

Then I went over to the free weight area, and grabbed a pair of 50 lb dumbbells. I set the bench to zero incline, and pumped out some dumbbell presses; 3 quick sets of eight. I only rested about 60 seconds between sets, and that gave me a nice quick pump.

Next up was incline presses. I took a barbell and loaded it up with 185. Again, 3 sets of 8 did the trick. At this point, it was time for a 5 minute rest.

Two part workout

But when I rest during my chest workouts, it is active rest. During the rest, I did some basic upper body stretches.

I think that splitting a body part workout into two parts, with a longer rest in between is a great technique.

Lighter weight on flyes

Dumbbell flyes were next on the menu. I like to go light with these.

Whenever I have used a lot of weight with flyes, I have always had a huge DMOS (delayed onset muscle soreness) issue a day or two later. I do these nice and slow, with a good squeeze at the top.

Superset finish

Now it was time for the big finish –- and I think this is what really sets this apart from all the other chest workouts I have done over the years.

I did a superset of two exercises: Close Grip Bench Presses -- I used a flat bench here, and loaded up Olympic easy-curl bar with 205. A set of 8, and I racked the bar. I like the EZ curl bar for this because it gives me a little relief from an old shoulder injury, and seems to target my triceps really well.

Heavy Dumbbell Pullovers -- I like to lie lengthwise on a flat bench for these. A 50 pound dumbbell is just about perfect. It is important to go slow, and breathe deeply during this movement. As you lower the dumbbell back behind your head, take in a huge breathe, and let it out as you bring the weight back over your head to the front.

I took a 2 minute rest between each superset here. After 3 sets, I was destroyed. I really could not have done another rep.

I’ll find out if this workout caused too much DOMS tomorrow, but for right now, I feel great. Thanks for reading my rant!